July 2022 North America Newsletter

Good morning afternoon,

As part of my role as the Policy & Training Events Manager at J-PAL North America, I manage the Economics Transformation Project (ETP), a student-informed, pipeline program that aims to create a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive field of economics for students from underrepresented backgrounds. ETP provides workshops, skills-building opportunities, and a suite of other opportunities for these scholars. 

My connection to ETP stems from my background as an Afro-Dominican woman who grew up in Lawrence, MA—a predominantly low-income, immigrant community—where I witnessed disparities in education, healthcare, jobs and wages, and living conditions firsthand. Through these challenges, I also personally benefited from many successful pipeline and community-based programs. In high school, I found community and academic support through Adelante Youth Center. As a high school junior, I found SAT prep through Let’s Get Ready. I later attended Hamilton College as a Posse Foundation scholar. Most recently, I purchased my first home through another community-based program, Urban Edge. These organizations and programs have shaped my personal, professional, and financial growth. Additionally, they’ve provided me with a network of lifelong friends and a partner who all challenge and support me. 

When I was asked to serve as project manager of ETP, I jumped at the opportunity to leverage my lived experience, academic training in accessing higher education, and ability to develop partnerships to launch a pipeline program for underrepresented scholars in economics. To date, our team has developed connections with high school administrators, leaders of college access programs, and peer organizations working to diversify the profession. Due to these connections, ETP has hosted several programs, including “Introduction to Economics” workshops for high school students from Minds Matter Boston and MIT’s Educational Studies Program. We’ve also hosted “Introduction to J-PAL and Randomized Controlled Trials” sessions for underrepresented undergraduate, predoctoral, and Masters level American Economics Association Summer Training Program students, and workshops on evaluation methods for Research In Color Foundation mentees. The collaborations with these peer organizations highlight how ETP is only made stronger and more effective by the partnerships we develop. 

To highlight ETP’s collaborative nature, we developed a four-part blog series featuring conversations with the Kauffman Foundation (a funder of the program), Minnesota Center for Diversity in Economics, the Research In Color Foundation, and the Women’s Institute for Science, Equity and Race. I’ve learned tremendously from these partners about how to best support underrepresented students in the field of economics. 

As we continue expanding existing ETP programs and developing new ones, we are excited to launch new partnerships with peer organizations and to offer customized skills-building workshops for their students, including upcoming work with the Sadie Collective and Pathways to Research and Doctoral Careers. We also invite other peer organizations working to create a more diverse and inclusive economics profession to reach out to us to explore new ways to collaborate. 

Sincerely,
Jatnna Amador
Policy & Training Events Manager, J-PAL North America

How collaboration is shaping a pipeline program to diversity the field of economics

J-PAL North America’s Economics Transformation Project (ETP) aims to increase diversity in the field of economics through supporting women and students of color at every stage of the economics educational and professional pipeline. Among its many activities, ETP provides workshops, skills building opportunities, and custom trainings for partners. In this work, we collaborate closely with other organizations bolstering diversity in economics and learn from their experiences. A four-part series on the J-PAL blog highlights these partnerships and the history of ETP. Learn more about the current team behind ETP; the importance of increasing diversity in research; a peer organization implementing similar work in Minnesota; and considerations for developing mentorship programs. 

Evaluating programs promoting diversity in STEM: A conversation with researchers 

Black and Hispanic individuals are underrepresented in STEM degree achievement and STEM workforce representation. Programs targeting STEM-interested, underrepresented high schoolers offer a promising way to promote diversity. Yet to date, there has been little rigorous evidence on their efficacy. In conversation with J-PAL, J-PAL affiliated researchers Sarah Cohodes (Teachers College, Columbia University), Helen Ho (Harvard University), and Silvia Robles (University of Michigan) discuss the results highlighted in their recent working paper, which found that STEM-focused summer programs increase college graduation rates and STEM degree achievement. These results suggest that early support can be highly impactful in creating meaningful diversity within the field. 

Research results: An intensive nurse home visiting program did not impact birth outcomes

A new paper reports that Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP), a prenatal and early child home visiting program, did not improve birth outcomes for first-time low-income mothers in South Carolina. The study, funded and implemented by J-PAL North America, found that nearly one-quarter of mothers experienced an adverse birth outcome across those randomly assigned to receive services and those not. Among Black mothers, this rate was nearly one-third. The results underscore the urgent need for a better understanding of how to address inequities in birth outcomes. Learn more about NFP's commitment to advancing evidence in this field and the ongoing research partnership on the J-PAL blog.  

Featured Evaluation Summary: The Impact of Targeted Mailers to Re-Engage US Voters with Criminal Convictions

Although millions of people with prior criminal convictions are eligible to vote, only a small fraction participate in the voting system. In a series of randomized evaluations, researchers sent targeted mailings encouraging people with prior felony convictions to register to vote in North Carolina. This mail-based intervention increased both voter registration and general election turnout among people with past criminal convictions. 

Featured Research Resource: Pre-publication planning and proofing

Randomized evaluations may have many stakeholders, and they may each have requirements for the way that results are presented or for what must happen before results are published. This research resource, intended for researchers preparing to submit a draft of their paper to a journal or publish a working paper, provides two template documents that can be used in planning for publication. The first is a pre-submission plan, used to list stakeholders’ requirements and other best practices for projects that are nearing completion. The second is a quality assurance and proofing checklist.

Media Mentions: 

Biden-Harris administration launches national effort to support student success
The recent announcement to commit American Rescue Plan funds to tutoring cites a literature review authored by J-PAL researchers 

How private sector summer employment programs are expanding benefits for young people
Brookings Institution

Google has already allotted $128M of its $250M pledge for Bay Area affordable housing
Silicon Valley Business Journal

J-PAL Voices Episode 7: Using research to understand impact
The newest episode of J-PAL Voices presents the story behind rigorous evidence on summer youth employment programs